Learning from others: Chimps learn how to peel and break into fruit from watching others, scientists found

It is not just humans who are fascinated by watching others cook – chimps also pick up tips on how to prepare food.

A study found that just as people learn new cookery techniques by watching celebrity chefs, chimps learn how to crack and peel fruit by studying their companions.

Researcher Bruce Rawlings said: ‘It is almost like they are watching the top chef and picking up information.’

Learning from others is an important part of building up cultural traditions – an ability thought of as being fundamentally human.

However, the Portsmouth University research suggests that it may actually date back more than six million years, to the time when chimps and humans shared a common ancestor.

The researchers videoed three groups of chimps as they were fed hard-shelled fruit in a Zambian wildlife orphanage.

The creatures used six different techniques to access the fruit’s flesh, including cracking two fruits together, banging the fruit on the ground and taking a small bite to get the peeling process started.

The favoured techniques differed across the groups. For instance, the banging two fruits together was used by two of the groups but not a third.

Each group contained members from around Africa, meaning their behaviour couldn’ t be explained by genetics.

And as the various groups couldn’t see each other and they weren’t taught how to eat the fruit by their keepers, it is thought that they were learning through observing others – a key part of establishing cultural traditions and differences.

Mr Rawlings, a psychologist, said: ‘Culture is a hallmark of the human species.

Watch and learn: Humans learn how to cook from watching celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver, pictured. It seems the technique can also be observed in chimps linking the species

‘As humans we might learn the best way to crack a nut or stone a peach form watching someone lese and it appears chimpanzees learn how to handle their food in similar ways.’

The study, published in the journal Animal Cognition, also revealed that some of the chimps stockpiled peeled fruit to eat later.

The self-control and mental ‘time-travel’ involved in planning a future meal suggest the creatures are capable of complex thought.